Westwood United Methodist Church | You Are a Blessing

Dear Westwood Community,

Tonight is our annual Church Conference, at which our District Superintendent Rev. Siosaia Tu’itahi will preside, as we give account of our ministries and leadership this past year. It’s for sure a church meeting, with required forms and particular requirements about what we need to vote on; all this work sometimes feels tedious. But also, I love that it provides an occasion to check in to ask us to talk about what we’re doing in a way that reminds us of our value and our values. This year, in alignment with our Conference theme, “Flourish,” our whole California-Pacific Annual Conference is celebrating the many ways in which God nurtures our ministries to flourish in our contexts.

The “Report of the Pastor” starts with a big question, which is taken from the description of the purpose of the church from our UMC Book of Discipline: In what ways does your congregation “send persons into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being and becoming a compassionate, caring presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel”?

I was glad to be able to respond about how we continue to preach a gospel shaped toward justice and peace, locally and globally. We are active in teaching and preaching that connects to issues of our time; our worship regularly focuses on specific ways that we engage this work, including in advocacy for LGBTQ+ siblings, in working for climate justice, through community organizing training with LA Voice, in support of the Echo Park Immigration Center, as a part of the work of 580 Cafe, with CLUE, through our connectional giving, with the Scattered for Service impact gift fair, breakfasts at PATH, Sierra Service Project, and more. We continue to give funds directly to people in need in our community through our Good Samaritan Fund. We have also expanded our use of podcasts as a forum for cultivating compassion, and working for justice, and our use of social media clips from sermons and podcasts.

It continues with a second question: In what ways does your congregation “continue the mission of seeking, welcoming and gathering persons into the community of the body of Christ”?

One of my highlights of this year has been the formation of our Found Family project, which connects younger LGBTQ+ folks in our congregation with older (parent or grandparent age) folks for connection and care. At that Wisdom at Westwood class session that helped launch the effort, we heard testimonies of how powerful and life-giving, and meaningful it has been to receive welcome in a church community, after experiences of judgment and exclusion. I have heard and experienced how much it matters that our staff is inclusive and diverse, and how that prepares us to be better at communicating welcome and true belonging in the community.

Sunday to Sunday, our congregation shows up (and logs on) to experience and share life in the body of Christ. Each of our worship gatherings offers space for needed reflection and formation in the practice of discipleship, with beautiful music, intentional depth, and care.

I continue to be deeply grateful for the incredible, diverse staff and leaders of our congregation. There is great strength in the relationships among the people of our congregation, which is evident in our worship gatherings as in our other projects and programs. I am grateful for the deep commitment of people new to the congregation, and those who are new; folks are eager to strengthen and expand on the meaningful, rich ministries of our congregation.

Most visible is our worship life, which is distinctive and rich in our two worshiping congregations: The Sanctuary and The Loft. I treasure that these two congregations are formed in different ways, but communicate the same underlying values. Even the architecture of our two worship spaces communicates how each of them offers a distinct and meaningful way to connect to community and to the divine. Each of them offers a powerful antidote to harmful ideas and structures, including individualism, arrogance, racism, sexism, and oppression; each of them grounds us in the common work of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.

I am grateful to get to work with Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter, whose collegial engagement deepens and expands my perspective in leadership. With Rev. Dr. Diana Holbert and Everest Harvey, our pastoral team has been a source of compassion and thoughtful leadership. Along with the rest of our staff, which includes phenomenal leaders and deeply committed laborers, we are able to give shape and support to the ministries of our congregation.

Our volunteers still keep the church going, too: Keith Price serves selflessly and so competently as Treasurer, and our other finance volunteers keep our office functioning week to week. Folks have stepped up to make beautiful things happen this year–including as cooks for the chili cook-off and fall bake-off, volunteers with children and youth, organizers of our Advent craft event, servers at PATH breakfasts, delivering flowers after Sunday worship, and so much more. John Holbert’s leadership of our education committee that plans our Sunday classes for adults at 11am is a great gift. Small groups continue to expand and go deep, including a men’s group, Westwood group, Culver City group, and our LGBTQ+ group.

I am so grateful to be a part of this work.